If you're a praying man or woman...

[ednbarby]

... pray for Democratic Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota, who underwent surgery last night to repair a condition in his brain that caused several blood vessels to become enlarged and tangled, and which led to bleeding in his brain.  He is in critical condition but recovering from the surgery.  They're supposed to issue an update on his condition later today.

Here's the thing.  If he can no longer serve in the Senate, the Republican governor of South Dakota will appoint a new Senator who will no doubt be Republican also.  Not only will this give the Senate a 50-50 tie of Republicans and Democrats (which grants Dick Cheney as Vice President and President of the Senate the deciding vote in any 50-50 split), but this will make it such that Democrats will no longer be able to head Senate committees by virtue of having a clear majority.  One of these Senate committees - the Senate Judiciary committee - was about to start investigating the Administration.  If a Republican Senator from SD takes Johnson's seat, that committee will no longer be headed by a Democrat and the investigation will go bye-bye.

Not to mention that this man is only 60 and has a family and I'm sure friends who would miss him very much, of course.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I wish I'd paid closer attention to Tim Russert's commentary on the Today show this morning. I remember him discussing situations in the past when incapacitated senators did not give up their seats--and thus could not be replaced. Some were so severely incapacitated they never showed up, one voted "yes"--"aye"--on something by pointing to his eye.

I wonder whether anything has been changed so that an incapacitated senator can be forced to resign his seat?

[starboardlight]

I wish I'd paid closer attention to Tim Russert's commentary on the Today show this morning. I remember him discussing situations in the past when incapacitated senators did not give up their seats--and thus could not be replaced. Some were so severely incapacitated they never showed up, one voted "yes"--"aye"--on something by pointing to his eye.

I wonder whether anything has been changed so that an incapacitated senator can be forced to resign his seat?

or maybe the rule varies from state to state? I'm not up on this as much as I should be.

[delalluvia]

... pray for Democratic Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota, who underwent surgery last night to repair a condition in his brain that caused several blood vessels to become enlarged and tangled, and which led to bleeding in his brain.  He is in critical condition but recovering from the surgery.  They're supposed to issue an update on his condition later today.

Here's the thing.  If he can no longer serve in the Senate, the Republican governor of South Dakota will appoint a new Senator who will no doubt be Republican also.  Not only will this give the Senate a 50-50 tie of Republicans and Democrats (which grants Dick Cheney as Vice President and President of the Senate the deciding vote in any 50-50 split), but this will make it such that Democrats will no longer be able to head Senate committees by virtue of having a clear majority.  One of these Senate committees - the Senate Judiciary committee - was about to start investigating the Administration.  If a Republican Senator from SD takes Johnson's seat, that committee will no longer be headed by a Democrat and the investigation will go bye-bye.

Not to mention that this man is only 60 and has a family and I'm sure friends who would miss him very much, of course.

Oh, boy.  [sigh]  I think we were in the same boat pre-9-11 but were 'saved' when a Republican jumped parties and shifted the numbers after a Democratic senator was killed in a plane crash.

[injest]

hmm...I believe that they CAN remove him but they have always been very reluctant to do so..and he DOES have to be severely incapcitated with little or no chance of recovery.

the good news is that he was communicating with his wife and reaching for her hand..that was the report on TV a short time ago!

[dot-matrix]

This posted this evening on Harry Reid's website, I got a copy via e-mail...

Admiral John Eisold, Attending Physician of the United States Capitol just released a statement saying, "Senator Tim Johnson has continued to have an uncomplicated post-operative course. Specifically, he has been appropriately responsive to both word and touch. No further surgical intervention has been required."

As Senator Johnson continues his recovery, the Senate continues to prepare for the 110th Congress. There's a lot to do on behalf of the American people, and we are looking forward to getting to work next year.

If you would like to send Senator Johnson a get-well note you can do it by visiting:

http://www.giveemhellharry.com/timjohnson

the site is filled with lots of interesting stuff for those of us with more liberal political leanings, check it out 

[David In Indy]

You know what? And I understand I'm going out on a limb here, but I think the Bush Administration "slipped" him something which caused his brain to explode.

Oh yes.

Republicans are desperate these days, and I think President Bush would try just about anything in order to shift Congress back to Republican control. 

[Kd5000]

Oh David, I think radiation is the newest thing.  Maybe that's Russia. I believe the CIA was very good about giving out a cocktail which would induce a heart attack. It seemed like a natural death, of course.  Somebody needs to sneak up on Cheney and give him a big BOO!  Oh, I should not say that with the holidays being around the corner.

Yes, Edna, I'm very concerned about Senator Johnson from the Dakotas.  Can't his wife (if he's married) represent him in the U.S. Senate if he's temporarily unable to carry out his job?      

At least Bush's popularity hit a new low of 30% per ZOGBY this week. Well it matched his previous record low back in June.  Who in Congress is going to pay attn to a president whose polling at Watergate levels?  I'm still suprsied to see trucks/SUVS with a W04 sticker. I don't know what color the sky is where they "live."    Maybe there waiting for "The Rapture" or something.